Cotton, Boozman, Cornyn, Cruz, Inhofe, Lankford Pen Letter to General Perna in Support of Red River Army Depot Assignment

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), and James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) sent a letter to General Gustave F. Perna to support the Army's assignment of Red River Army Depot in Texas as the depot source of repair (DSOR) for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program, which provides enhanced force protection, survivability, mobility, and power generation for the next generation warfighter.

"Red River's technical experts maintained Army ground combat and tactical systems for multiple generations, representing an invaluable resource that would be extremely costly and time consuming to reproduce at an alternate location," the senators wrote. "Their extensive experience rotating Bradleys into combat and training environments have endowed them with a firm understanding of the vehicle and the environments where it is employed. Fortunately for the Army, the AMPV is already benefitting from these highly skilled experts' institutional knowledge. In a time when readiness is the Army's top priority, bringing the AMPV to Red River would capitalize on existing capabilities and expertise while ensuring a minimal impact on readiness."

We write to support the assignment of Red River Army Depot (Red River) in Texarkana, Texas as the depot source of repair (DSOR) for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program. The production and deployment of this new Army system provides enhanced force protection, survivability, mobility, and power generation for the next generation warfighter. The assignment of depot maintenance responsibilities and planning for the sustainment of the AMPV program is a critical decision in maximizing the system's service life while, simultaneously, generating great efficiencies for the Army. Red River offers a turnkey solution that possesses all the components necessary to seamlessly transition to AMPV depot maintenance support.

These components include trained personnel, tooling, production lines, and technical expertise from decades of experience working with BAE Systems, the original equipment manufacturer for the AMPV program. As the Army's primary depot for ground combat and tactical systems sustainment maintenance operations, Red River has already integrated into the AMPV production process by disassembling, processing, and shipping Bradley Fighting Vehicles (Bradleys) to BAE's production site for AMPV vehicle production. Due to these factors, Red River would be the most natural and cost efficient location for AMPV maintenance and sustainment.

Red River's technical experts maintained Army ground combat and tactical systems for multiple generations, representing an invaluable resource that would be extremely costly and time consuming to reproduce at an alternate location. Their extensive experience rotating Bradleys into combat and training environments have endowed them with a firm understanding of the vehicle and the environments where it is employed. Fortunately for the Army, the AMPV is already benefitting from these highly skilled experts' institutional knowledge. In a time when readiness is the Army's top priority, bringing the AMPV to Red River would capitalize on existing capabilities and expertise while ensuring a minimal impact on readiness.

In addition to the workforce, Red River has been the Bradley's DSOR since the 1980's and the Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence since 2002. These designations, coupled with the 75 percent commonality that AMPV shares with the Bradley, make Red River the most effective and efficient choice for the maintenance and sustainment of this new vehicle. The cost to relocate these capabilities to another depot facility would result in a great loss of government funding, manpower, and intellectual resource.

Red River plays a critical role in maintaining warfighter readiness and is in the best position to fulfill the role as the AMPV DSOR. We appreciate your careful attention to this matter and request that you keep our offices informed of any decisions concerning the AMPV DSOR designation at Red River.